Give Gavaskar his dues, says Lalit Modi

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman, Lalit Modi has come out in support of former Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar a day after he brought up the non-payment of his IPL dues.

Sunil Gavaskar

Modi said on Twitter that the former opener was promised R 4 crore per annum. "A lot is being said in the news about Sunny. I just want to clarify -- yes Sunny was promised four crores a year by the BCCI for IPL," Modi twitted.

Lalit Modi

"Yes, it's due to him for the years he served on the IPL Governing Council. We used his name and credibility when setting up the IPL," he added.

Modi also highlighted how crucial it was for the IPL to have Gavaskar on board. "Sunny was critical at the time we were setting IPL -- as no one believed in the product then. So to have him on Board was critical to the IPL.

"Keep in mind, when we launched IPL -- ICL (Indian Cricket League) was headed by Kapil Dev -- and we needed all the more reason to have Sunny on our side. Because of Kapil's stature ICL was snapping all the players. So it was important to counter that by bringing in Sunny. ICL was on a roll," Modi wrote.

Modi also said that it was the then BCCI president Sharad Pawar who helped in getting Gavaskar on board. "Getting Sunny on board was done with the help of Sharad Pawar -- the then president of BCCI. He had negotiated the amount and I as chairman agreed," he added.

"IPL since has made history and will earn BCCI billions of dollars in the coming year. People like Sunny should be rewarded not crucified," he said.